bikeshedding

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. Futile investment of time and energy in marginal technical issues.

n. Procrastination.

Etymologies

bikeshed +‎ -ing. The word originates in Berkeley Software Distribution culture and implies technical disputes over minor, marginal issues conducted while more serious ones are being overlooked. The implied image is of people arguing over what color to paint the bicycle shed while the house is not finished. The word has its origins in Parkinson’s Law of Triviality. (Wiktionary)

Examples

We are basically the steering committee that makes decisions on release schedules and other project management issues - the things that cannot be effectively done by the community at large without running into security, privacy or 'bikeshedding' issues.

The parallel with Microsoft users vs. Java users seems to be all too obvious: Microsoft as the strict father: If you are loyal you will be rewarded, but if you stray you will be punished; whereas in the Java (or Python) community benefits and moral goodness flow from helping each other (which includes sharing open source software, and, apparently, bikeshedding: -).

Every school had bike sheds back in the day. Behind the bike sheds was the scene of illicit activities like smoking, fighting and smooching. I've never heard of a house with a "bike shed" though - at home I use the back yard for those activities.

Urban Dictionary says that it refers to "Technical disputes over minor, marginal issues conducted while more serious ones are being overlooked. The implied image is of people arguing over what color to paint the bicycle shed while the house is not finished."